To ensure you are getting enough dietary iron eat the wide variety of foods that are naturally high in iron. Iron from plant food is absorbed better by the body if eaten with foods containing Vit C and therefore may cause less constipation. For more information on diatry iron please read Getting Enough Iron written by Dietitian Eve Reed.
Here is a list of foods that are rich in iron:
Food
Iron Content (mg)
grams
Cereals, grains and nuts
Rice, brown
Pasta, wholemeal
Bread, wholemeal
Wheatgerm
Wheatbran
Branflakes
Cornflakes
Soya bean curd, tau hoo
Cashew nut
Pistachio
Walnut
Lotus seed
Almond
Sunflower seed
Watermelon seed
Soya bean, white
lentil
Gram, green
Gram, red
Humus
Tahina
1 bowl 200g
1 portion 100g
1 slice 30g
1 teaspoon 15g
1 tablespoon 15g
3/4 cup 30g
1 cup 30g
1 small square 85g
1/2 cup 65g
1/2 cup 65g
1/2 cup 50g
1/2 cup 15g
2 tablespoons 30g
1/2 cup 70g
1/2 cup 50g
1/2 cup 50g
1 cup 180g
1 cup 250g
1 cup 250g
3 tablespoons 50g
2 teaspoons 25g
10 halves 35g
10 90g
10 90g
1 packet 42g
1/2 cup 65g
10 85g
10 85g
One 155g
1.2
3.3
3.0
1.5
3.5
3.6
2.2
1.6
Vegetables
Kale, Chinese (kai lan)
Spinach (bayam pasir)
Kang kong
Chinese cabbage (bok choy)
Mustard leaves, chye sim
Seaweed, dried (hai tai)
Sea moss (fa chai)
1 cup 65g
1 cup 30g
1 cup 30g
1 cup 170g
1 cup 55g
1 sheet 15g
1 pinch 10g
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Some babies are born with flat spots on their heads. This is often due to the position they were in while in the uterus, other times it may be cause during the birth procedure or as in many cases it is the result of regularly sleeping with the head in the same position.
All babies are born with soft mouldable heads to allow for their passage through the birth canal. These soft malleable bones of the skull are not fused and often slide across one another, overlapping a little during birth. Once born, a newborn has very little head control causing the head to be floppy and roll to one side or the other. If your baby favours one position in particular, this may become a problem. After as little as four hours of sleeping there will be a tendency for the under side of the head to be a little flatter than the upper side. You may have see babies who have very round moon-shaped faces. These tend to be babies who have slept on their backs looking straight up. They often have quite obvious flat spots on the back of their heads.
There is no doubt that the incidence of SIDS has been lowered significantly since the introduction of Safe Sleeping Education. But evidence also suggests that we should make sure that the baby lies with his head turned to alternate sides during each sleep session. This practice should be started from birth.
As the baby develops and become more aware of his surroundings he may tend to turn his head to see bright objects, light, or the approach of his parents of a carer. Positioning the cot to make use of this voluntary turning of the head is a very good practice. Some people find it easier to sleep the baby at alternate ends of the cot.
Placing the baby on his tummy and alternating lying on his right and left sides when awake and supervised is also important. This practice should be started from birth otherwise baby may dislike being on his tummy for extended periods. This is often the case with babies 2 months or older. To help baby enjoy tummy time begin with short periods and keep extending the time until they are able to play happily for up to 60% of their wake time on their tummy. Baby massage, laying beside them on the play mat, lying while on your chest or across your knees, or after the bath on the change table, can be soothing for a baby and teach him that tummy time is pleasant and fun. Tummy time is also important for his brain development.
Mild flattening of the head often resolves itself once the baby is sitting up independently. Don’t be alarmed if you do not see results instantly, as the skull continues to grow and change shape until the age of 18 years. Aside from introducing good positioning techniques and plenty of tummy time, no intervention is required unless your baby has a severe misshapen head or you notice asymmetry in the face. This may include forehead bossing and/or ears or eyes not level with each other. In the more severe cases, a custom moulded helmet is designed to encourage the skull to grow in a more symmetrical manner. This form of intervention is effective on babies aged between 5 months and 18 months, the most common time to treat is between 6 and 12 months. The helmet is generally worn 23 hr/day for about 3 months.
If you have any doubt about the shape of your baby’s head, you can contact a paediatric physiotherapist and you can get further advice about handling and encouraging good development in your baby. There is also a brochure outlining the techniques to help in maintaining good head shape of your baby, available from your APA paediatric physiotherapist or through the National Office of the Australian Physiotherapy Association.
Alti Vogel, an Orthotist, has helped put this article together; she works at the Children’s Hospital assisting in the design and manufacture of helmets for babies with misshapen heads. (Information was also adapted from the Physiotherapy Association of Australia).
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Slip on a t-shirt, slop on some sunscreen and slap on a hat! We’re all urged to keep those sunlight rays away from our skin, but in our eagerness to prevent every possibility of skin cancer are we exposing our children to the other very harmful possibility of Vitamin D deficiency?
Vitamin D is a vitamin most well known for its major action of enhancing the body’s ability to absorb calcium from the diet. Vitamin D also has some other very important actions such as enhancing phosphorus absorption and playing a vital role in the immune system. Perhaps the importance of Vitamin D is best demonstrated by looking at the effects of Vitamin D deficiency. Without enough Vitamin D children are prone to develop rickets, a disease where young developing bones become soft and bendy, giving a bowed-leg, knocked-knee look and increasing the risk of fractures and breaks. Other serious symptoms of deficiency are grand mal seizures, fever, cough and vomiting then cardio-respiratory arrest.
During pregnancy Vitamin D is essential for foetal growth and bone mineralisation, and Vitamin D is stored up in the body to be used by the newborn after birth to protect against tetany, convulsions and heart failure. Because of this it is important for pregnant mothers to be aware of their own Vitamin D levels particularly in the last trimester of pregnancy when foetal bone growth is the greatest. After birth, a newborn’s stores of Vitamin D are used up in approximately the first 8 weeks of life. Newborns then obtain their Vitamin D from breast milk, although this too can be almost non-existent depending on mother’s own Vitamin D levels. Adding Cod Liver Oil to breast milk or a Vitamin D fortified formula is very important if this is the case.
The main source of Vitamin D is from sunlight. Sunlight levels vary greatly between different times of the day, seasons of the year, even between continents, and so it is hard to measure exactly how much sunlight exposure is needed. A good guide is at least ½ an hour of unhindered sunlight per day (no sunscreen!) to face, neck, shoulders and arms. In winter this will not be enough and so it is important to combine this with good dietary sources of Vitamin D. Those most at risk of developing Vitamin D deficiencies are dark-skinned people, vegetarians and vegans, veiled women, and breastfed infants of these groups of people.
Breastfeeding mothers should obtain 4000IU per day. In addition to enough sunlight (at least half an hour a day) good dietary sources of Vitamin D are egg yolks, butter from grass-fed cows, cheese, fermented foods, bone broths, fatty fish like salmon, mackerel and herring, and organ meats like liver. Vitamin D is much higher in animal products where the animal is grass-fed as opposed to grain-fed for the very obvious reason that sunlight is needed for the grass to grow!
Vitamin D also raises the need for Vitamins A and K, two other important fat-soluble vitamins for the immune system and nervous system development. If you are concerned about your own or your children’s Vitamin D levels it would be worth your while to go see a trusted medical practitioner or nutritionist.
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If you are looking to start toilet training your toddler, summer is a great time. Wet pants aren’t so cold and there's plenty of time outside where
accidents aren't so messy. I suggest you use light undies or those
with a thick gusset as they are uncomfortable when wet, especially when
wee is trickling down their legs. This helps encourage the use of the
potty or toilet. Use a nappy or something similar when putting your
toddler to sleep to avoid accidents.
Parents also need training. It is up to the parent or guardian to remember to ask the toddler if they need to go to the toilet. Try asking 20 mins after offering liquids, before going to bed and on waking and approximately once every hour until you or your toddler are more aware of their needs. Training parents to recognise the needs of their children helps children become more aware of their own needs and in learning a new routine.
Toilet training needn’t be a struggle, sit your toddler on a potty or toilet and help him be comfortable. Talk to him about ’wees and poos’, make a ‘ssssss’ sound can help him to associate with doing a wee. Don’t sit him for too long as he will only get restless and eventually resent toilet training. It helps to learn by example. Sit him on the potty when you’re on the toilet. Give him plenty of praise and lots of encouragement even if there is no results. Don’t be angry or scold your child if they have an accident, remind them there will be another time to try. In time they will be aware of their own toilet needs.
Tips: It is not a good time to start toilet training your toddler when there
has been a family disruption, extra stress or you have just had another
child. Wait till your child has settled into their new environment and
feel comfortable before introducing a new skill.
Remember: When leaving the house, remember to carry a few spare pair of pants and
cloths, a plastic bag for wet cloths and a cloth to mop up the spills.
In the car you may like to sit him on top of an open nappy or put some
other padding such as a ‘Chair Pad’ made by Brolly Sheets, under him in
case of an accident..
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Toilet training issues - when, where and how - can be a controversial topic.
I have had interesting conversations with other health workers and parents, some from different cultures in regards to toilet training. In China, for instance, children and babies do not wear nappies, so toilet training starts very early. A Korean client was training her baby from birth and claimed her mother had trained her children by six months. From this example you can see it is more the mother who is being trained to be aware of her baby’s needs. This is the way I encourage and teach parents. Training parents to be aware of their baby’s body functions and needs. When parents understand their baby’s body rhythms they can assist their baby to form good habits such as good sleep and feeding patters. Through habitual behaviour parents help prepare their child for everyday activities such as hair washing, teeth cleaning and even toilet training. As these activities become a part of the child’s daily routine the child adapts and accepts this new learnt behaviour. A typical example is when you wrap your baby when it’s time to put him/her to bed, it doesn’t take long before baby recognises wrap means it’s time to sleep.
Therefore why not introduce your baby to the potty when they are still very young!
Toilet training needn’t be a chore.
My suggestion is to introduce your baby to the potty when they can sit confidently with out support. Sit your baby on a potty and help him/her to be comfortable there. Sing or read a story to keep him/her occupied. Making a ‘ssssss’ sound can help baby to associate with doing a wee. Talk about ’wees and poos’ even if you think they don’t understand. You will be surprised how much they really take in.
Put baby on the potty after every sleep time and when you see them straining to open their bowls.
In fact if you start before your child becomes too independent, which usually is around two years old, you will have less resistance. Less resistance will mean more cooperation. If you make this part of your daily routine it will soon become a habit and less of a chore.
Tips: When starting your toilet training don’t sit baby on the potty for too
long as they will only get restless and eventually resent the potty.
It also helps if baby learns by example. Let him/her sit on the potty
when you’re on the toilet. Give your baby praise and lots of
encouragement even if nothing is produced.
Remember: In time you will become aware of your baby’s toilet habits. As you
train yourself your baby will respond as he/she too recognizes why they
are sitting on the potty.
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Our little boy is nearly three years old and is only just sleeping through all night. It has been a long arduous journey in which we have tried and tested absolutely every technique known to mankind to make sleep possible. In October 2008, he was diagnosed with Restless Leg Syndrome finally, after about 18 months of long term sleep deprivation for our entire family.
My understanding of Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) is that it generally runs in families and is exacerbated by low iron stores in the body. My boy had a long history of barely eating and eventually became iron deficient. This affected his behaviour, his sleep patterns and also his bowel movements. The gastroenterologist eventually diagnosed this condition of whom I will be forever grateful to.
In 2007 we spent four days at Tresillian to assist with his night time awakenings. This helped initially, however after a few months, he started waking again. I went to our local GP and then paediatrician to seek help. I was advised that I had a challenging child and that his sleep disturbances were entirely behavourial. With three hundred dollars less in my pocket, and no further tests taken, I went home with absolutely no idea of what to do next.
So I began sleeping with my child so that he would wake, see me, feel comforted and go back to sleep again. He didn’t or couldn’t. He would wriggle and toss and turn for three hours every night and then finally go back to sleep. It was like he’d had a strong cup of coffee – he just could not stop moving every part of his body! No behavioural strategies had worked after twelve months of trying so I began looking for alternative methods.
In addition to this, I also had a newborn baby at the time and my husband and I would regularly be living on 1-2 hours of broken sleep/night. I met a lady at playgroup who suggested I try an elimination diet – determined not to do this without the support of a good doctor, I drove well over an hour to Hornsby to see an allergy specialist, who was so overbooked she was unable to see me (despite having an appointment). I began the diet anyway and noticed some improvement in his behaviour, particularly after we replaced his milk with rice milk. After six weeks I went to my GP concerned his bowels were chronically loose. At this stage I realized there was a connection between him having diarrhea and his sleep troubles. A blood test revealed he had very low iron levels.
After what seemed an eternity and several visits to our local baby health clinic, Tresillian, two GP’s, a paediatrician, a kinaestheologist and one attempt with an allergy specialist, we finally could pinpoint the problem. It seemed that when the condition got so bad that physical changes were apparent, it prompted GP’s into action.
My little boy was also slow to speak and within a few weeks of iron therapy he was communicating by words in leaps and bounds. His eating improved and after five months of taking iron everyday, his sleep started to improve and waking in the night became more habitual than anything else. This was easily fixed with the help of Sally Hall.
I am writing this as I am concerned there are several parents who are repeatedly told by health professionals that their child’s night awakenings is behavioural – yet if behavioral strategies don’t work the first time, please suggest to your local GP for him/her to have a blood test. I recently informed a paediatric nurse at our local child health clinic about RLS and she had never heard of it. I found this disturbing.
I am not a medical expert but a desperate mother who on several occasions left the family home in the depths of the night to avoid hurting my precious son. Sleep deprivation is extremely dangerous for families and when parents think it is serious enough to visit doctors after trying several behavioural techniques; it really does warrant further medical investigation.
Emily Perl Kingsley wrote the short article Welcome to Holland in 1987 (www.our-kids.org/Archives/Holland.html). It describes her experience of having a baby. The preparation period is compared with years of planning for a wonderful trip to Italy: reading the guide books; learning some of the language; imagining oneself at the sites there. The actual arrival of the baby and the years that follow is then described as landing in Holland.
It is not that there is anything wrong with Holland. The point is that it was not what was expected. There’s a sense of disorientation; a need to get up to speed in a new reality. And sometimes maybe a yearning for Italy – that image of what one imagined it would be like.
For some, motherhood is everything that one imagined it might be. But for others, becoming a mother is very different to what they expected. Emily Perl Kingsley says we get on with things and eventually learn to enjoy the wonderful things that Holland has to offer. But that process can take time.
Emily Perl Kingsley was writing about her experience with her son, Jason, born in 1974 with Down Syndrome. The article has been reproduced countless times and translated into many languages. Because? Because it speaks of a reality for many, many mothers, perhaps.
Whether the baby has a “special needs” label or not, it doesn’t alter the fact that some babies require a greater level of management than others. A baby might be a fussy eater, temperamental sleeper, hypersensitive to stimuli, reactive to changes in routine and liable to “winge” and cry. All babies are exhausting at times: such a baby is especially exhausting and requires greater input from Mum and Dad to help him/her negotiate the ordinary dramas of everyday life.
All babies give joy back to their parents. But the smiley, cuddly, good eater and sleeper’s gifts back to the mother are more readily felt and more immediately nourishing. The more aloof or fussy baby gives too, but sometimes Mum must learn a different language in order to receive these gifts.
If there is a special-needs label then there maybe support and sympathy directed towards you. However, if there is no obvious cause to the apparent neediness of the baby, then there may be suspicion and judgment coming your way, shaking an already crumbling confidence. In response, mothers can start to look for a diagnosis in the misconception that that might release them from blame.
I don’t mean to suggest that having a fussy baby equates to the challenges of a lifetime ahead with a child with a major disability. What I do want to do is to connect to the vein that the piece Welcome to Holland tapped into: in those first few months, or first few years, having a baby that you find extremely challenging (with or without a diagnosable disability) can feel like being in Holland, when your friends are in Italy.
The question: ‘Is there something wrong with my baby?’ is natural and, needs to be explored. And the path to the answer might take you down many blind alleys. But there is another important question sometimes forgotten: How do Mum and Dad respond to this demanding situation? Do the parents have the confidence, support, energy and time to meet this challenge? More often, Mum, for example, engages in self-criticism and self-doubt and becomes stressed and isolated. Dad might respond to Mum’s heightened stress by withdrawing into himself, or into work, or shift his attention to the other children. And so begins the possible reinforcement cycle, where the needy baby creates the stressed and strained parents, which potentially contributes to the baby’s neediness.
A family unit straining under the particular demands of a baby or child for a prolonged period can benefit from external help. External help might take the form of extended family giving Mum and Dad a break and the opportunity to support each other; or additional domestic services to help in the home; or guidance on establishing routines and managing the baby. Sometimes such practical support alone is not sufficient. Sometimes the family, or Mum in particular, needs to be able to talk through the emotions evoked by the struggle, to have a place to discharge these emotions, and to begin to look at herself, her child and the situation in a new way. Such emotional support can give Mum, and the family, more energy and enthusiasm to meet life’s challenges… and to find more enjoyment in Holland.
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General practitioners, midwives and early childhood centre advisors encouraged us at every turn to put the baby back on the breast, to seek therapy and counselling to put the baby back on the breast, at times even trying to scare and intimidate us into putting our baby back on the breast with stories about stunted mental and physical development.
Little to no effort was made to discuss how best to manage the bottle-feeding process. Those who eventually did offered advice that was inconsistent and largely illogical.
Beyond medical practice, I have also learned that women have openly ridiculed, bullied and otherwise judged my wife in public, as though our decision was made on a whim. This kind of schoolyard behaviour frankly beggars belief.
My experiences have me convinced that, whether deliberate or not, there is a culture in Australia and its medical profession that is specifically geared against bottle-feeding. I am heartened to know that my suspicions are resonated in a study published in the July 2009 edition of Archives of Disease in Childhood from the British Medical Journal, which found that:
“While mothers recognise the benefits of breastfeeding, those who bottle-feed with infant formula do not receive adequate information and support from their healthcare providers and, thus, ultimately put their baby’s health at risk.”
It goes further to quote a pediatrician of 30 years’ experience: "While breastfeeding should be encouraged, it is not the only safe and nutritious infant feeding option available. Healthcare providers should counsel new moms with information on all infant feeding options in order to ensure the health of their babies as well as support mothers in their decision."
Most poignantly, it notes: “mothers who bottle-fed their infants were riddled with negative feelings of inadequacy, guilt, and failure.” Based on my experiences, I can assure you this is through no doing of their own.
In the months that have passed since switching to the bottle, we have done extensive reading and research of our own; we have fortified our resolve and our baby has thrived. I hope the people who’ve seen fit to pass judgement on us fare as well when their time arrives. “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.” – Matthew 7.
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Thanks for sharing your experience. I could not breast feed my first, due to medical issues, but could my second child. I experienced similar backlash and pressure as you have described and would love it if we could encourage a culture less of judgement and more of understanding in matters of parenting.
My dutch grandmother had 13 healthy children and all were bottle fed, and I was purely bottle fed. They were commended for it.
Whether it be child care, bottle feeding, or methods of discipline, we all need to remember that to judge others is really only to show others how we judge ourselves.
It is unusual for a very young child to be given a diagnosis of Asperger’s Disorder. More often, a child will be of primary school age before such a diagnosis is made.
The signs of Asperger’s Disorder are characteristics exhibited by many young children and it is the level of intensity, and the combination of characteristics and the persistence of characteristics over time that may eventually lead to a conclusion that a child has this Disorder. So even if your toddler exhibits many of the following signs, one cannot presume that the child has Asperger’s Disorder. The young child may instead have an anxious temperament, or simply be struggling with normal developmental milestones or external stressors.
Children with Asperger’s Disorder show difficulty with social interactions. They may be less expressive and engaging with their face and gestures when communicating. They may be less likely to point out an item that interests them, not thinking to share their interest with others. They may demonstrate less empathy and reciprocity of emotions. As they grow, they tend to miss social cues and misinterpret other’s reactions.
Children with Asperger’s Disorder show restricted or repetitive play, interests or movements. For example, the child might engage in hand flapping, or have an interest in parts of toys more than the whole toy, or be intensely preoccupied with the detail on a particular topic.
Children with Asperger’s Disorder typically do better with a strict routine, and struggle with any changes to it. They can have very rigid expectations in each situation. They can be hypersensitive to stimuli, fussy eaters and temperamental sleepers. Unanticipated or unfamiliar situations with additional stimuli and/or social demands can cause them intense frustration, distress and anxiety. Angry outbursts, with seemingly little thought of consequences, can result.
Understanding that their child’s mind works differently to others can help parents respond in meaningful and constructive ways. Calmly taking the child with Asperger’s Disorder to a familiar “time out” space can be the most productive behaviour management technique for these angry outbursts, thus providing the child with the opportunity to re-group.
Asperger’s Disorder is considered to be related to autism, although milder in impact. A key identifiable difference between Asperger’s Disorder and autism is that of acquisition and use of speech. Speech development is usually within the normal range for the child with Asperger’s Disorder, whereas the child with autism would typically have delayed or unusual speech development.
Parents can find a diagnosis helpful in understanding their child, or in accessing help. But whether a particular label is appropriate or not, and forthcoming sooner or later, doesn’t alter the fact that some children require a greater level of management than other children.
All children are different, and place different demands on us, and offer us different rewards and joys. As parents, the challenge is to learn to understand our child, learn to meet our child’s particular needs most of the time and learn to recognise the rewards and joys that only this child can bring.
When you have a child whose behaviour regularly deviates from the average, other parents and grandparents will inevitably offer unwanted and unhelpful advice and comments. Sometimes this fuels your own self-doubts about your parenting strategy or skills. Sometimes you are able to let the comment pass, knowing that it comes from a place of ignorance about your child. Other times, you are required to advocate on behalf of your child, educate others who have narrow views of expected behaviours, and translate your child’s world to others so that with greater understanding they might be able to make room in the their hearts for you and your child.
If you want to find out more about Asperger’s Disorder, here are two good starting points. Tony Attwood is an internationally recognised authority on Asperger’s Disorder. His website is www.tonyattwood.com.au. Also Autism Spectrum Australia (or Aspect for short) provides advice, education and services for individuals, families and the community. Their website is www.autismspectrum.org.au and their advice line number is 1800 069 978.
Sharon Murphy
Counsellor
Providing the option of consultations in your home
0425 244 492
60 minutes, Channel 9 produced and interesting story on Autism which you can view here '"Pet Theory"
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When I reminisce on my introduction to fatherhood, it’s all about the waterworks, the tears I shed. Nothing prepares you properly for fatherhood. It’s an overwhelming and altogether unexpected experience no matter how much research you may do beforehand.
I cried with nervous apprehension when my wife was taken to an operating theatre for an emergency caesarean section, after she had bravely battled in labour for more than half a day. My tears were transformed into rivers of joy when I saw my son for the first time. On reflection, it was surprising that I didn’t shed tears of horror at the sight of that cone-headed alien recently rescued from my wife’s womb.
Tears of frustration flowed when he cried and I possessed neither the equipment nor the skills to pacify him. More tears followed, this time of exasperation when we brought him home and I thought I knew what I was doing, but nothing I did would quiet my son’s anguished wails. I have never felt so helpless. When one so truly and totally dependent on me as my little boy cried, I was defeated. I had nothing in my armoury save tears of failure.
Even though I didn’t know why he was crying and he most certainly was not even aware of my distress, those tears were also shared: two males of the human species bonding through weeping.
Other tears flowed. The ones of disgust when my little man filled not only his nappy but also the rocker with putrid dark brown semi-solid waste. My wife and I were eventually able to laugh about that. I reckon I laughed so hard I cried.
There were more tears of laughter when I found him asleep in a corner, sitting bolt upright with his head back, mouth open and hand still gripping a cracker.
And in the fullness of time, I returned to the tears of joy I had shed when he arrived into my world, as I waved him off on his first day at a new world called school. Those tears were a strange cocktail of pride and anxiety. It was the beginning of letting go and I considered that worth a good sob as well.
I’m learning fatherhood as I go. That little screaming creature is now as tall as I am and much better looking than he was then. More challenges await and no doubt more tears, of every variety, will also come. I’m not ready but I’ll be okay as long as I don’t drown in all my tears.
D. A. Cairns is married with two children and lives on the south coast of New South Wales in Australia where he works as an English language teacher and writes stories in his very limited spare time. He has had seven short stories published. Devolution is the name of his recently released first novel.
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